Shop Crush News

[p][/p][p]Hi, dear players![/p][p][/p][p]We have removed all AI from our game. It has been in Illusion's mechanics previously, but right now it's not. We have asked our artist to recreate all the illusion images by hand. We kept the original puzzles of images, but all execution is now fully humane.[/p][p][/p][p]However, we will keep the label until we replace the trailer, which had an AI asset in it (Illusions). But the game itself does not contain any AI content now.[/p][p][/p][p]This concludes our game, now fully free from AI art. We heard the players and are committed to bringing them the best game. We also notified Think Diffusion about it. They were great helper for our game, and we are thankful for everything to them, but now we are only having human art in the game.[/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]To celebrate it, we are conducting a playtest for Shop Crush. Sign up if you are interested. We are preparing a game demo and would be more than happy to have you try it.[/p][p][/p][p]You can sign up for the paytest on our Steam Page:[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]We will update with further details of the playtest soon.[/p]

[p]The character evolution in Shop Crush[/p][p]At the beginning, the game had a different tone and was more of an ironic/comic game. Therefore, we wanted the characters to be cartoonish and caricatured. They were supposed to be a reflection of the game mechanics they represented.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This is the first iteration of the game. Character was simple and didn't have any backgroundord shading.[/p][p]The Second Iteration[/p][p]I was doing a redesign of the game the other day. The goal was to improve the readability of the game rules, so I changed the appearance of the character, too. Since the character background became wide, I painted them a background myself, with what I had at my disposal.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The second iteration of the game design. Characters are now wider and more readable. This appearance allowed for characters' emotions and speech bubbles, too.[/p][p][/p][p]The Big Leap[/p][p][/p][p]However, during the playtests on different conventions, I still saw a big interest among players in the character personas themselves, rather than stats or gameplay cards. So I decided to add a special menu with a character, where we can see them as humans.[/p][p]It has their age, tastes, character, and other attributes, which familiarize them with players, and players greatly enjoyed it.[/p][p]But this representation now required much more detailed backgrounds for the character then pefore.[/p][p]So I asked one of our artists to paint backgrounds for every character. In our game, a character can be in 3 skins also - male, female and alien. So he painted backgrounds for all 3 skins, too.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The backgrounds became much more detailed. They were supposed to highlight the character better.[/p][p][/p][p]But that wasn't enough.[/p][p][/p][p]See, I also asked our other artist to paint a new Steam picture for the game. She painted it, and it has become our key art for the foreseeable future. I really enjoyed how she did that. Though this time I had to do these weird concessions to the algorithm, like screaming faces and weird colors, but it worked greatly, and I am satisfied.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]However, players were starting to notice the difference between the characters on the promo image and in the game. Even though every character had a unique background, it wasn't enough. Characters appeared flat and cartoony compared to this new iteration of the game art.[/p][p][/p][p]So I asked our character artist to update the characters, too.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Here you can see the progress of the work. We had upgraded every character in the game. What has noticeably changed:[/p]

• [p]lighting[/p]
• [p]shadows[/p]
• [p]sometimes, character design altogether[/p]
• [p]faces[/p]

[p]You can compare how it was before:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]And how it is now:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Conclusion[/p][p]We are so happy we did this. And I can't wait to share with you in one of the next posts the info on all the characters. Our character artist she had done an amazing job, and we really hope you will like the updated characters even more![/p]

[p][/p][h3]Dear players,[/h3][p]As we approach the end of the year, we’re getting ready to step into a new one. Hopefully, it will bring new achievements, fresh hopes, and ideas that feel worth chasing. We genuinely hope 2026 will be better than the year before - for all of us.[/p][p][/p][p]As for Shop Crush, development continues steadily toward Early Access. What started as a small, relatively unknown project some time ago has grown into something much bigger than we expected. The game has found its audience, and seeing genuine interest from players has been incredibly motivating for us.[/p][p]This year, we released several new trailers - including this one. If you haven’t seen it yet, we highly recommend giving it a watch:[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]We also participated in multiple game development conventions throughout the year. These events were invaluable, giving us direct feedback from players. If you compare Shop Crush at the beginning of 2025 to where it is now, it honestly feels like a completely different game - and that’s a good thing.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The overall feedback has been very positive, and we truly believe the game will resonate even more once players can get their hands on a demo.[/p][p][/p][p]Speaking of the demo - our current goal is to release it in 2026.[/p][p]Technically, we could release a demo right now. However, after listening carefully to player feedback from conventions, we realized that quality matters more than speed. Certain expectations need to be met for the demo to properly represent the game, and that takes time.[/p][p][/p][p]At the moment, we’re still catching up on art, expanding gameplay variety, and polishing the music. But one thing we can confidently say: the demo is coming in 2026 - hopefully in the early part of the year.[/p][p]Thank you for sticking with us, sharing your thoughts, and supporting Shop Crush. We’re excited for what’s ahead.[/p][p][/p][p]Happy Holidays, The Shop Crush Team[/p][p][/p][p]p.s. Improving characters[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][p]Shop Crush is a complex game. I plan to show more gameplay in the coming trailer we're announcing. I already had 3 trailers before, and they were better each time.[/p][p][/p][p]The latest trailer was okay, but some people said it's too unclear:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

1. [p]Action frames were not specific and didn't carry enough attention.[/p]
2. [p]Despite my best efforts, the trading gameplay became unclear to players.[/p]
3. [p]Overall, the video feels a bit like a mix of too much stuff together.[/p]

[p]The next Shop Crush trailer would probably be more gameplay-focused so that people could see all the loops of the game.[/p][p][/p][p]That trailer was a predecessor of our announcement trailer:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]I still wanted to build on top of that. You can see that the game's style is clearly moving from like blurry and foggy one to a more meme-inspired but mysterious game, cause people seem to connect with it more.[/p][p][/p][p]I heard the narrator is a powerful tool for trailers, too. Well, let's try it, too, then.[/p][p][/p][p]Anyway, the view count goes up, and that's what makes me happy:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]Our first trailer was prepared in a rush without any understanding or conceptualisation.[/p][p]The game was in early alpha then.[/p][p][/p][p]Today I'm thinking about different stuff, though.[/p][p][/p]

1. [p]It'll probably be a narrated trailer, with gameplay uncut scenes, and a focus on showing the loops.[/p]
2. [p]It'll be more funnier, I think.[/p]
3. [p]And definitely, the game quality, and hopefully, the filming quality would improve more![/p][p][/p]

[p]Especially with your help.[/p]